The Only Way
by thegreatwhitewolf
Summary: An alternate ending to Episode 5 Phase Shift Down. When captured by Athrun, Kira takes the only path possible selfdestructing his Gundam In the process, his life is lost, causing problems for both sides. Athrun POV AthrunxKira implied.


The Only Way

Summary: An alternate ending to Episode 5 Phase Shift Down. When captured by Athrun and Lt. La Flaga unable to help, Kira takes the only path possible; self-destructing his Gundam so that Zaft will not get its hands on it. In the process, his life is lost, causing problems for both sides. Athrun POV AthrunxKira implied.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot.

A/N: I'm sorry! I was watching Episode 5 and I thought of this and it won't leave me alone. It took me so long to write it down, but now I am. I've read all the mangas, but I've only seen the first five episodes, so I'm not very familiar with the characters. I apologize if they're OOC.

I watch the scene in front of me without saying a word. It doesn't look good; Kira's surrounded and losing power. Suddenly, his power goes out and his armor's gone. Suddenly, he's left defenseless and Yzak goes after him. No…no! I can't let him die. Not like my mother. I was powerless last time, but not this time. This time, I can save him. I won't let someone else I love die. I fly forward, transform my Gundam, and surround the Strike. I fly off with it before Yzak can destroy it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Athrun?" he asks.

"I'm capturing it," I answer.  
"What?!" Yzak's face is obscured by his helmet, but I know that he's angry.

"We were told to destroy it!" Dearka protests loudly.

"I know but it's much better if we capture it! Now let's go!" I snap. The others fall silent and follow me.

"What are you doing Athrun?" Kira asks.

"I'm taking you to the Gamow," I answer.

"What? There's no way in hell that I'll get on a ZAFT ship."

"You're a Coordinator. You're one of us! You belong with us!"

"No way! I'm not gonna join ZAFT."

My anger boils over. Does he not understand anything? "Shut up!" Kira falls silent. "Just let me take you, okay? Otherwise…otherwise I have to shoot you." My voice wavers.

"Athrun," Kira murmurs. His breathing is labored

"Kira please. Just let me take you."

"I can't. I can't let ZAFT get their hands on the last Gundam. My friends on the Archangel will all die."

"But there's no other way."  
"There is one way."  
"What's that?" Kira doesn't answer. I don't like the silence that follows. "Kira?"

"Athrun?"  
"Yeah?"

"Goodbye."

"Kira wait!" I suddenly know what he's going to do. "Please don't! I don't wanna lose you too."

"I have to. It's the only way."

"Please Kira! I love you!" but it's too late. Suddenly, the Strike explodes and mine with it. I close my eyes and wait for the end.

_I'm coming with you, Kira._ I think.

Slowly, my eyes open. I'm not dead after all. I'm floating through space. I never realize how large it was until now. There's debris everywhere. A body floats near me. Through my cracked helmet, I see…Kira?

"No!" I gasp quietly. I reach out and hold onto it. His eyes stare aimlessly into space blood drips down from his lips. He's dead. "No! Kira!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I scream. I sob quietly for the longest time. My lungs feel like they're going to explode and I cough. Blood comes out and stains my helmet. I never realized how silent space is. There's nothing except my own breathing. I hold Kira's lifeless body and close my eyes, wishing that I could die. Suddenly, there's the sound of engines that cut off.

"Hello? Is anyone out there" a man asks. I look around and see a man coming toward me. "Kira?" he asks. I shake my head. I'm barely conscious now. The man's face swims in and out of focus. "Hey. Hey! Can you hear me?" His face fades and all I see is blackness. The next thing I remember is hearing soft voices.

"…found holding Kira's body…don't know who he is…think he's with ZAFT…hurt badly…" a man says. There are more whispers and I can tell that someone's holding me. I'm carried somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Finally, I'm taken into a room and laid down on a bed. "Now let's see your face," the man says. He's not wearing his helmet now so I can see his face; he's only about twenty or so with blonde hair and blue eyes. He leans forward and gingerly lifts the cracked off my head. The glass scrapes my face and I wince, but don't say anything. My helmet is in his hands and he's staring at me wordlessly, his eyes wide with shock. He turns away and hurriedly walks out of the room. The door stays open, so I can hear what he's saying.

"Lt. Ramius, you'd better come down here. There's something that you should see." There's a pause and then the man comes back in. This time, the door closes behind him. He stares at me until the door slides open and a woman in her late twenties comes in.

"What's wrong?" she asks. Wordlessly, the man gestures at me. She stares at me.

"Oh my god. He's so young," she breathes.

"Like Kira."

"It's so wrong that people like…like Kira...and this boy have to fight on the front lines like soldiers."

"I know." They walk out of the room, but I can still hear their conversation. "What should we do with him?"  
"We can't let him die. ZAFT pilot or not, we won't let him die."

"I understand. Take care of him."

"What will we do with…" he clears his throat. "Kira's body?"  
"I'm not sure yet. Let's continue our course to Artemis, and hope they let us in."

"We don't have the Strike anymore, so they should."

"So the Strike was completely destroyed in the explosion?"

"Yes."

"And the Aegis as well?

"Yes."

"Lt. Ramius? You're needed up on deck," a man says. He doesn't come in.

"All right," Lt. Ramius sighs softly. "I'll be right there." She turns to the man. "We have to concentrate on getting to Artemis and then we can decide what we can do and mourn our loss."

"I understand." Lt. Ramius leaves and the man turns to me.

"Can you tell me your name?" he asks.

"A…Athrun. Athrun Zala," I manage to choke out. Blood stains my lips.

"Hold on. I'm gonna go and find some medical supplies." I nod and the man leaves. He comes back after a while holding various items. "I'll do what I can. I'm afraid we took off without fully resupplying so we're sort of short on medical supplies." He puts some stuff from a bottle on a cotton ball. "This may sting a bit." I wince as the antiseptic touches the cut on my face from my helmet. "You okay?"

"Yes," I whisper. The man falls silent as he cleans my wounds the best he can and bandages them. I'm starting to feel dizzy again.

"Are you gonna pass out on me?"

"I…don't know."

"It's okay if you do."

"Okay." I close my eyes and feel the darkness surrounding me.

_Kira and I are standing under the cherry blossom trees saying our goodbyes. He's holding the robotic bird I made and gave to him as a present. The petals are falling with the gentle breeze and stick in our hair. I can't take my eyes off him. He silently turns and walks away._

"_Wait! Kira!!" I cry, but he doesn't hear me. He's gone before I can stop him. "No, Kira! Please don't leave me!! I love you!"_

I quickly open my eyes and look around the room, breathing heavily. The man I had seen before is sitting in a chair beside my bed, staring wordlessly at me.

"Y…you kept murmuring Kira's name in your sleep. He was…the pilot of the Strike. D…did you know him?" I close my eyes and see Kira's lifeless body once more. "Athrun?"

"Yes, I knew him," I finally answer, keeping my eyes squeezed shut. "He and I…we were best friends as kids. We went to the same school as kids on the moon. I moved to the Plant and he was supposed to follow, but he never did. When Lt. Ramius powered up the Strike, I was there. I…saw Kira. At first, I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I stole the Aegis and confronted Strike's pilot to see if it was him and it was. In the last battle, when Kira ran out of power, I tried to save him by taking him prisoner. If I hadn't, he would have been killed and I…I couldn't do it. He was my best friend! I couldn't kill him!" Tears pour down my face and I open my eyes to stare at the man.

"Oh my god," he breathed, staring at me. "I can't believe you knew him. Did anyone else know about it."  
"Only my commander. He was the only one I told."

"I see." The room falls silent for a while. There's a question bugging me that I can't help asking.

"What's going on?"

The man sighs softly. "We are en route to Artemis. We're going to figure out what to do once we're there."

"And what about me?"

"We're going to get you some medical help."

I'm surprised. "I'm not under arrest or anything?"

The man laughs shortly. "No. Normally, we would place you under arrest and hold you here, but the Aegis has been destroyed, so you're not going to be much of a threat to us, we figure."

"What about…Kira?" The words catch in my throat.

"We're…going to see if we can locate his parents and give his body to them." I silently nod. "After you're better, you'll be free to go wherever you wish. We can probably find you passage to a neutral territory and you won't have to be involved in the war."

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"You don't deserve this. You don't deserve to be in all this pain. You may be an enemy, but we're not heartless. You've already been through a lot and you don't need any more pain." I'm silent. Suddenly, there are raised voices coming from outside. "What the heck's going on?" The man rises, goes to the door, and opens it. Some young teens are arguing with Lt. Ramius.

"Why the hell are we letting him live and taking care of him? He's the enemy!" a girl screams.

"That may be, but we cannot be heartless. We have to show some pity for him." The arguing continues. I close my eyes and try not to listen, although it's hard. When I open them, the man is walking out to where the arguing is.

"Lt. La Flaga!" Lt. Ramius gasps.

The man ignores her and looks at the teens. "You think we shouldn't show any mercy toward him? You haven't seen him! You haven't seen how young he is! He's Kira's age! You don't know what he's been through! He…" he breaks off and glances at me before continuing, his voice softer than before. "He and Kira were best friends." The others gasp, but he continues. "He…he told me. He told me everything. They were best friends! Imagine how it would feel to have to fight your best friend, someone whom you held very dear. Imagine having to watch him die, to hold his lifeless body in your arms!" Tears well up in my eyes and I drift off, still wishing I was dead.

When I wake up again, I'm moving. It takes a while for me to focus, and when I finally can see again, all I can see is the ceiling of a large hangar. I'm lying down and am moving pretty fast. We turn and I see the same man as before swiftly walking by my side. I try and call out to him to ask him what's going on, but my lips are too dry. I close my eyes for a while and just let myself be whisked away to wherever the hell I'm being taken. After a while, we stop, and I hear a door slide open. We're outside now. I can see the blue sky and a couple of clouds. Of course, it's not real, but that's okay. I can also see the weird umbrella and know that we're on Artemis. I'm put in the back of an ambulance and taken away. After a rather short ride, we stop and I'm taken out. I'm taken into a large building that smells like peroxide. It's too clean in here and I feel uncomfortable. I'm taken into a room and nurses bustle around me. I feel the pricking of a needle in my arm, but it doesn't bother me; I've been in worse pain.

"Just relax," a nurse says in a soothing voice. "We've given you a light sedative so you'll sleep." I nod, but don't say anything. I can feel the sedative working through my bloodstream and I finally give in, the darkness surrounding me once more.

_I watch the scene in front of me without saying a word. It doesn't look good; Kira's surrounded and losing power. Suddenly, his power goes out and his armor's gone. Suddenly, he's left defenseless and Yzak goes after him. No…no! I can't let him die. Not like my mother. I was powerless last time, but not this time. This time, I can save him. I won't let someone else I love die. I fly forward, transform my Gundam, and surround the Strike. I fly off with it before Yzak can destroy it._

"_What the hell do you think you're doing Athrun?" he asks._

"_I'm capturing it," I answer.  
"What?!" Yzak's face is obscured by his helmet, but I know that he's angry. _

"_We were told to destroy it!" Dearka protests loudly._

"_I know but it's much better if we capture it! Now let's go!" I snap. The others fall silent and follow me. _

"_What are you doing Athrun?" Kira asks._

"_I'm taking you to the Gamow," I answer._

"_What? There's no way in hell that I'll get on a ZAFT ship."_

"_You're a Coordinator. You're one of us! You belong with us!"_

"_No way! I'm not gonna join ZAFT."_

_My anger boils over. Does he not understand anything? "Shut up!" Kira falls silent. "Just let me take you, okay? Otherwise…otherwise I have to shoot you." My voice wavers._

"_Athrun," Kira murmurs. His breathing is labored_

"_Kira please. Just let me take you."_

"_I can't. I can't let ZAFT get their hands on the last Gundam. My friends on the Archangel will all die." _

"_But there's no other way."  
"There is one way."  
"What's that?" Kira doesn't answer. I don't like the silence that follows. "Kira?"_

"_Athrun?"  
"Yeah?"_

"_Goodbye."_

"_Kira wait!" I suddenly know what he's going to do. "Please don't! I don't wanna lose you too."_

"_I have to. It's the only way."_

"_Please Kira! I love you!" but it's too late. Suddenly, the Strike explodes and mine with it. I close my eyes and wait for the end._

_I'm coming with you, Kira. I think._

The first thing I hear is soft beeping. Slowly, I open my eyes, but all I see is a dark blur. I can hear the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor and some other machines that I can't recognize. Slowly, the dark blur fades away and is replaced by a big light blur. Finally, that too fades away and I can see a whitewashed wall.

"Hey Athrun. Welcome back," a familiar voice says. I cautiously tip to my head to the side and see the blonde-haired man sitting in a chair by my bed, reading a magazine. I try to speak and my lips close around a thick tube. "Don't try and talk right now," the man says soothingly. "The doctors put a breathing tube down your throat to help ease your breathing. One of your lungs was punctured and was slowly filling with blood. That's why you we coughing up blood. They operated and fixed the tear. After that, you got an infection and nearly died. You've been running a fever of about 106 for several days. Are you okay?" I nod my head slightly, but quickly stop because it gives me a headache. The man puts down his magazine and rises. "I'm going to go and get the doctor. She'll want to know that you're finally awake."

_She?_ I wonder softly, but there's no time for me to consider this; the man vanishes and comes back in a flash with a beautiful young female doctor behind him. She comes over to my side.

"Hey there kid. You're finally awake," she flashes me a smile. "Your fever is finally going down and your lungs look good. They're healing nicely, as are your other wounds. It's going to be a while before we can take the breathing tube out, though. Your lungs need to heal a little more and get a bit stronger. It shouldn't be a problem, but I'm afraid that if you come off too soon, you'll pull the stitches in your lung out. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'd say it'll be a couple of weeks before you can leave." I nod my head to show I understood her. She smiles and leaves. I'm exhausted and close my eyes.

Over the next several weeks, I do a lot of sleeping. There isn't really anything else that I can do while I just lay there. The breathing tube is finally comes out and they make me cough up what's in my lungs. It's not a very pleasant experience, let me tell you. They still gave me oxygen for a while through some tubes in my nose, but after a couple of days, I was taken off that as well. The pain slowly went away thanks to drugs and time. After a while, I was strong enough to go out on the veranda and sit out in the sun. Oh how I liked seeing the sun again after being in the cold darkness of space for so long. As the doctor said, it was several weeks before I was released from the hospital. As promised, the man, whose name I found out was Lt. La Flaga, gave me passage to Aube, a neutral nation on Earth. I don't think I can ever repay their kindness. Even though I was their hated enemy, they showed pity and gave me another chance at life. So here I am on Aube. I'm not sure what'll happen, but we'll see.

End

A/N: Sorry the end seemed kinda stupid. I hope that Athrun and the others weren't too OOC. I've read all the mangas, but I've only seen the first five episodes. I hope this wasn't too horrible to read.


End file.
